Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Twenty Nine

The perfect location for a gorgeous getaway spot and the motel was the most rundown building I had seen since the old lean to in Abneer.

The front sign had fallen over and no one bothered to fix it. Broken wooden boards hung down from some of the windows, flapping against the cracked stone exterior. I couldn't even begin to imagine what the inside looked like.

Five floors high, the motel was built into the side of a mountain.

We tracked our way through the trees surrounding the area to the back of the motel where the escort was told to wait for us.

The stone exterior ensured that no one could see us as we strode around the corner.

A young woman leaned back against a tree, smoke drifting through the wind from the cigarette resting between her dark, red lips. Her body was almost completely on display, save for the intimate parts covered by narrow red panels spanning from her shoulders, tucking into the waistband of her incredibly tight shorts.

The moment she saw us - saw the monster beside me - she tossed the burning cigarette onto the ground and started into a brisk walk, and threw herself at the Shadow Knight. Her fingers shook as she started with the buttons of his shirt. All while sucking the air from his lips.

I snorted, watching Caeden struggle to break free from her surprisingly strong and persistent grip. His arms flailed to the side, muffled words coming from his lips.

Finally, he managed to get a hold of her arms and pry her off. "We don't need an escort," he said quickly. "We need information."

She frowned, pure disappointment on her face. "Fine," she groaned. "I knew it was too good to be true. But I have a price."

It was certainly no surprise with his strikingly good looks that she was disappointed. From what I had seen, most of the monsters would have given an arm and a leg to spend one night with him.

"Everyone does," he replied, pulling a stack of money out of the bag hanging on his arm and handing it to her.

"What do you want to know?" .

"We want to know where the guards are positioned in the palace and when their shifts change." He pulled the folded up map from the deity out of the bag and handed it to her next.

She signed in response and took the pencil from his hand before scribbling all over the map. "I don't know when their shifts change. The same guards are always there when I go in and out. But there's a rumour that one guard was fired a few months back. From what I've heard, he holds a bit of a grudge so he might be willing to tell you what he knows."

"Thank you," Caeden said.

She nodded before walking away, leaving us there.

Once she was gone, I stepped out from the trees and followed him back around the motel. "If we find the guard, he can also give us information about getting into the prison cell where they're keeping the soldier."

"Yes, but it's getting dark out. We'll have to stay here for the night and head back in the morning."

I wondered why he worried about travelling at night. I already knew that monsters lurked at night. In fact, I had already seen some of them in their monster form that night at the club. What did he not want me to see?

A hint of starlight peeked through the covering of trees. The stars seemed like they were so close that night. Like I could reach out and touch them if I wanted to.

Unlike the rest of the building, the front doors were brand new, perfectly intact.

A strong, foul scent hit my nose as soon as we stepped into the motel. Rotted up boards along the floor were held down by a stained, red carpet.